Bach: Oboe Concertos, etc – review

Heinz Holliger is now 72, and rumour has it that this could be his last disc as an oboist. There's certainly a sense of coming full circle about it, too, since the main works here – the Concertos for oboe and violin BWV 1060, for oboe BWV 1059 and for oboe d'amore BWV 1055, together with the D minor oboe concerto by Alessandro Marcello that Bach arranged as a harpsichord concerto – are all pieces that Holliger recorded early in his career to great acclaim. In these new versions his tone may not be quite as fulsome as once it was, but the elegance and intelligence of his playing remain peerless, and the qualities that made him the greatest oboist of the 20th century are obvious as ever. What has moved on since he first recorded these works, though, is the whole approach to baroque style: there is something a bit old-fashioned about the Camerata Bern's rather earthbound playing. Admirers of Holliger, though, will treasure every note he plays.